Joseph r



(No Model.)

J, R. SMITH.

BUTTON.

No. 430,400. Patentedune 17, 1000.

To all whom. it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH R. SMITH, OF \VATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE IVATERBURY BUTTON COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,406, dated J' une 17, 1890.

Application filed March 5 1890. Serial No. 342,697. (No model.)

Be it known that I, JOSEPH R. SMITH, of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new Improvements in Buttons and Fasteners therefor; and I do hereby declare the following,

when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure l, a vertical centralsection of the button complete; Fig. 2, a face view of the button complete; Fig. 3, a front or outside view of the disk E detached; Fig. LI, a side view of the fastener detached; Fig. 5, a vertical central section showing the fastener and button engaged; Fig. 6, a modification in the button.

This invention relates to an improvement in a device for securing buttons to garments, the device also requiring a peculiar construction of the button itself, the object of the invention being the construction of a device which,being introducedthrough ahole pierced in the garment for the purpose, may enter the button and automatically engage therewith, so as to secure the button to the garment without the employment of other implements than that required to pierce the hole; and the invention consists in the construction, as hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the front of the button, and B the back of the button. The back is provided with a tubular shank C, which is constructed with a flange D, to take a bearing upon the face of the garment where the button is to be attached. This shank, as here represented, is made separate from the back,

its inner end set through a central opening` in the back, and the edge turned down therein to interlock the back and shank, so that the shank becomes a permanent part of the button. Between the back and front of the button a disk Eis introduced before the parts of the button are set together. This disk is constructed with an opening F through its center corresponding substantially to the internal diameter of the shank C, and preferably the edge a, around the opening, is turned upward to form an upwardly projecting fiange, as seen in Fig. l. The back and front of the button are closed together, so as to securely hold the disk E in its proper central position with relation to the opening through the shank. The shape of the front over the opening is made so as to leave a space between the. edge a around the opening in the disk and the interior of the button, that the fastener may interlock with the said edge a..

The fastener is composed of atubular body Gr, Fig. 4, provided with a head H at one end, adapted to bear upon the reverse side of the garment, and the diameter of the tubular body G is substantially that of the internal diameter ofthe shank C. At its open end the tubular body G is turned outward to form a slight annular flange I, and the body is slit in the plane of its axis, as at h b, Fig. 4, thus forming` several elastic tongues CZ d, it being understood that the metal of which the body is composed is of an elastic character, These slits, forming, as they do, independent springs d, permit the contraction of the slit portion of the body, the flange t' being of larger diameter than the internal diameter of the shank C; hence if the fastener be introduced so as to force the annular fiange I into the shank such force will cause the springs to bethrown inward and contract the diameter, so as to permit the iange I to freely pass up through the shank and through the opening F in the disk E, until the flange I arrives at a point above the upper edge or surface around said opening F. Then the reaction of the springs will cause them to fly outward, and so as to bring the flange I over the edge a, around the opening in the disk, and as seen in Fig. 5. This flange I presents substantially a right-angle shoulder upon its under side, and that shoulder, resting upon a corresponding fiat surface a upon the disk, positively interlocks the fastener with the button, so that the withdrawal of the fastener is impossible without destruction of the button.

In applying the button and fastener ahole is pierced through the garment at the pointv where the button is to be attached, in the usual manner for applying automatic fasteners of this class, and the fastener introduced through the hole so made in the garment. The

AIoo

button is placed over the protruding end of the shank and the two pressed together to bring the head of the fastener and the base of the button firmly upon their respective sides of the garment and until the shoulder of the fastener has interlocked with the buti ton, as before described. It is desirable that the button should be provided with the front A, as it covers the opening through the button, and also the ends of the springs of the fastener, thereby giving a neater and more finished appearance than the button would present were the front omitted; but the front may be omitted, the disk E and back being united, as seen in Fig. 6.

I claiml. A button composed of a back B, with a tubular shank projecting therefrom and adapted to bear upon the garment, with a disk E secured upon said back, the said disk having a central opening through it of a diameter corresponding substantially to the internal diameter of the shank, the said opening constructed with an unyielding edge, forming a rigid bearing a around said opening, and With which unyielding bearing the yielding fastener is adapted to engage, substantially as described.

2. A button composed of a front A and i back B, the back B constructed With a tubular shank adapted to rest upon the surface of the i garment, a disk E, inclosed between said back to engage the button-fastener, substantially Y as described.

3. A button composed of the back B, constructed with a tubular shank, a disk E, secured upon said back, and having a central opening through it corresponding substantially to the internal diameter of the tubular shank, and so as to form an edge a around said opening, combined with a fastener having a tubular body G, with a head H at one end, the other end constructed with an annular ange I, so as to form substantial-ly a right-angular shoulder upon its under side, and the body longitudinally slit from itsopen end to fo'rm several springs d, substantially as described, the said flange I being adapted to automatically engage the said bearing-sun face a on the said disk.

JOSEPH R. SMITH.

Witnesses:

NEWTON C. SMITH, CHAs. H. UrsoN. 

